KUCHING: Sarawak DAP is taking the initiative to unite the opposition parties in the state, especially Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB), before the latter forms the Borneo Alliance with Warisan.
University of Malaya socio-political analyst Assoc Prof Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi said the Borneo Alliance was aimed at uniting opposition parties in Sabah and Sarawak, thus, it was expected to focus on domestic issues affecting the two Borneo states.
“If it (Borneo Alliance) materialises, the situation will not benefit DAP but make them to be seen as ‘less local’ despite having established in Sarawak for a longer period of time,” he told New Sarawak Tribune.
“DAP will not want to have any cooperation with the Borneo Alliance (if it is formed) as they have a ‘cold relationship’ with Warisan after their Sabah assemblymen Justin Wong and Calvin Chong quit the party and joined Warisan recently,” he said.
Therefore, Awang Azman opined that the best step for DAP now was to cooperate with PSB before the Borneo Alliance was officially formed or before the GE15.
He was commenting on Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen’s recent statement that the party was open to cooperation with all opposition parties in Sarawak to take on Barisan Nasional (BN), Perikatan Nasional (PN) and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) in the general election.
Chong said the party had formed a three-member committee – made up of his deputy Alice Lau, party secretary Alan Ling and party treasurer Chiew Chiu Sing – to start discussions on the co-operation process.
Awang Azman said DAP was considering to cooperate with other opposition parties as they were aware of the strong regional or Borneo sentiment in the last state polls. Furthermore, DAP wanted to remove the image or being labelled as an ‘outsider party’ or ‘Malayan party’ in Sarawak.
He said the 12th Sarawak election results showed that PSB – a local party – was capable of garnering support from the voters and even performed better than DAP which only managed to retain Padungan and Pending.
“Besides, there is also a need for the major opposition parties in Sarawak to work together to take on the GPS ruling coalition and avoid vote-splitting,” he said.
Awang Azman said PSB would agree to work with DAP as long as they could reach a consensus on seat allocations.
“If this issue can be resolved, it will be no surprise the two opposition parties will join forces to take on GPS in the next election,” he added.
However, Sarawak PKR Information and Communication chief Abun Sui Anyit hoped the DAP’s intention to cooperate with other opposition parties would only involve parliamentary seats allocated to DAP.
He said it would be premature for PKR to agree or disagree on cooperation with opposition parties other than those within PH, namely, DAP, PKR and Amanah.
He said Sarawak PH had not called a meeting involving cooperation with others, therefore, whatever decision the Sarawak DAP had made with other opposition parties which could have negative effect must be avoided at all costs
